1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to coin operated vending apparatus for dispensing an individual product unit upon deposit of coins therein.
2. Background of the Invention
There exist a variety of vending machines from which a "customer" can obtain a desired product by self-operation of the machine. The types of such machines range from simple mechanical versions to more elaborate electrically controlled versions. The object of all such machines, however, is to present a simple procedure by which a customer can obtain a desired product from the machine and at the same time to provide a reliable operation and ease of maintenance. One type of vending apparatus being widely used today because of its low cost utilizes a rotatable carousel from which products are dispensed. The carousel in such an apparatus typically includes a plurality of longitudinal vertically disposed guides in a circle to form a multi-sided cylinder, each guide being arranged to hold a plurality of products stacked on top of the other. Selection of a particular product from such apparatus is carried out by rotating the carousel to align the guide containing the desired product with a product display window and the operating of a dispensing mechanism (e.g. a pull knob) which causes the desired product to be ejected to a receptacle accessible by the customer. One problem encountered with the typical carousel type vending machine is that of jamming if the carousel is improperly aligned when an attempt is made to operate the dispensing mechanism. In any case, such machines often times will not operate if the carousel is not fairly precisely aligned.